When a motorcycle is temporarily parked while the engine is running, there will be a fear and danger that the change pedal will be operated by someone so that the motorcycle may start or tumble to cause an accident. Even when the motorcycle is parked while the engine is off, there is a danger that it will be forgotten to change the transmission gear to neutral so that the engine may start and the motorcycle may start running.
Particularly, when a motorcycle equipped with a fluid type automatic transmission gear is parked by its side stand while the engine is running, there is a danger that a driving force will be left in the wheel by the creep torque of the torque converter and the motorcycle will tumble.
Therefore, it is necessary to hold the change pedal in the neutral position. However, in such case, even if only the change pedal is shifted to the neutral position, unless it is regulated, there is a danger that someone will shift it to a low speed or drive position. There is also a danger that the operator will carelessly forget to return the change pedal to the neutral position.
Heretofore, there has been suggested a means of returning the change pedal to the neutral position in accordance with the rise and fall of the side stand or the like. In this kind of conventional device, the change pedal is regulated by the side stand or the like. For example, the side stand and change pedal are connected with each other through levers and links so that, when the stand rises, the change pedal may return to neutral, or the change pedal returned to neutral is regulated by a cam operatively connected with the rise and fall of the side stand.
In the former of such conventional means, that is, in the type in which the change pedal is regulated by the side stand, as the change pedal is regulated but the transmission gear itself is not regulated, the regulation is indirect. Further, as the change pedal is operated by the rise and fall of the side stand through links and levers, there is a danger that the operation of setting the transmission gear in neutral is inaccurate. Further, there is a disadvantage that the levers are so long that the mechanism is complicated, and there is a drawback in that all the mechanism is exposed to impair the appearance of the motorcycle.
In the latter conventional type, that is, the type in which the change pedal is pressed with the cam to regulate the operation of shifting the pedal to low speed position or drive range, the regulation of the transmission gear is also indirect. It is also necessary for the operator to operate the change pedal to set it in neutral. There is a risk that the operator will carelessly forget to operate the pedal.
Thus, the conventional means have various problems.